The Common Book - Prince of Thieves archive materials
As part of Writing Across the Curriculum activities at Middlesex Community College, each year, a Common Book is recommended for the whole college, selected for literary quality and relevance to many subject areas. Common Books in previous years include Where the Heart Is, by Billie Letts, Not Born in the U.S.A., edited by the MCC Writing Across the Curriculum Committee, and Shakespeare Behind Bars: The Power of Drama in a Women's Prison, by MCC Professor Jean Trounstine (click here for full historical list).
The Common Book for 2006-2007 is
Prince of Thieves
by Chuck Hogan.
Prince of Thieves is a popular new thriller that has received a great deal of local and national attention and connects with numerous contemporary themes. The book was recently awarded the Dashiel Hammett Prize (the best crime-fiction novel of the year) for 2004, has received much praise from critics and other authors, and was recently optioned for film production by Law & Order producer Dick Wolf. Stephen King said, Prince of Thieves is a terrific read. Chuck Hogan has woven a rich narrative of friendship, young love and mounting suspense. On each season's fiction list, if you are lucky, there are one or two books that live up to the advance hype. Prince of Thieves is such a book.
In previous years, the Common Book has served as a foundation for lectures, panel discussions, theater performances, videos, films, art displays, essay contests, museum trips, and other events. But most important of all, the Common Book has served as the basis for many valuable classroom experiences and thought-provoking discussions among students, faculty, and staff at the college. For that, ultimately, is the most fundamental purpose.
Parts or all of the Common Book may be required in classes in all disciplines. This book may be read independently by students with very little additional time required in classes or might be used as a whole or in part by professors in various disciplines.
It is available in paperback and hardcover at both the Bedford and Lowell campus bookstores and can also be purchased at most bookstores; it is also available for circulation at both MCC's Bedford and Lowell libraries. We strongly encourage you to read the book so that you can take full advantage of your educational experience at Middlesex Community College. There will also be several activities to supplement the book throughout the school year. We hope you are stimulated, challenged, informed, entertained, and rewarded through your reading of the current Common Book, Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan.
This just in:
(Chuck Hogan spoke at MCC on April 25, 2006 as part of the college's One World Series to a large group of students, faculty, staff, administrators, and members of the community. Prior to this all-college event, Mr. Hogan spoke informally to a small group of students and faculty who had questions about Prince of Thieves, his writing process, how he got published, and his life as a writer. Prof. Dona Cady videotaped this informal discussion and created this video as part of her Creative Process Project in which she has been gathering videotaped interviews of authors and artists about their creative process.)
Chuck Hogan's new novel (released January 2007) The Killing Moon
A new short story, "The Marriage Privilege," by Chuck Hogan published Summer 2006
Book and author information from the publisher - Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan
Boston College Magazine article on Chuck Hogan
Faculty Blackboard Website to Support Common Book
(sign on and find this on your courses list; if not enrolled, please email Tom Laughlin
at laughlint@middlesex.mass.edu)